'Gentleman' Love Ulster rioter gets 18 months

A man described by gardaí as "the gentleman of the group" has been given an 18-month sentence by Judge Patricia Ryan for his role in the 'Love Ulster' parade riot in Dublin city centre last year.

Thomas Ryan (aged 25) of McKee Park, Finglas covered his face with the Irish flag while he threw broken paving slabs at gardaí and put a pole through the window of the Progressive Democrats’s office on South Frederick Street, causing an estimated €1,851 worth of damage.

He also helped 30 other rioters overturn a BMW car that was later set on fire and completely destroyed at a cost of Stg£19,000 to the owner.

Ryan pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to violent disorder and criminal damage at O’Connell Street on February 25, 2006.

Judge Ryan suspended the last nine months of the sentence after taking into account Ryan’s "sad family circumstances" and the fact that he is now the official guardian of his 15-year-old brother.

She said she also took into account what she described as the "very fair evidence" of Detective Garda Paul Murphy and the fact that Ryan wasn’t involved in setting the car alight.

Det Gda Murphy told Ms Caroline Biggs BL, defending, that out of the 70 people who were processed in his station in relation to the riots that day, Ryan could be described as the "gentleman of the group" and added that he was both "co-operative and easygoing".

Det Gda Murphy told prosecuting counsel, Mr Pieter Le Vert BL, that gardaí were satisfied Ryan had not gone into Dublin that day with the intention of causing violence. He had no weapons with him and was not a member of any political party.

Ryan had six previous District Court convictions, including obstructing a garda during the course of his duty and road traffic offences.

Det Gda Murphy agreed with Ms Biggs that Ryan was not at the core of the group that arranged the parade, nor was he a member of any unlawful organisation.

He also agreed that Ryan didn’t set fire to the car and his involvement was lifting the front of it to make it easier for others to overturn it. He had apologised to gardaí for his "disgraceful behaviour".

Ms Biggs asked Judge Ryan to accept the "extraordinary evidence of Det Gda Murphy" and said that Ryan was "a decent individual", who had no problem with authority, but had rather got "caught up in the mob mentality of the day".

She said he left the family home at 13 years old but returned after he learned that his younger brother was taken into foster care. He has since been contracted by the Health Service Executive as the sole guardian of the teenager.